


The Year it Finally Happened

by Indilwen_Meldiriel



Category: Tangled (2010)
Genre: Gen, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 19:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16729428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indilwen_Meldiriel/pseuds/Indilwen_Meldiriel
Summary: Every year people pretended to have found the lost princess. Every year it was another lie. Until one year, it wasn't.





	The Year it Finally Happened

It happened almost every year. Overly ambitious girls lightened their hair; people picked up children from orphanages; parents dragged their reluctant daughters to the palace gates. Every year it was the same. None of them were Rapunzel. Until one year it was.

Most of the people of Corona were not so bad. In fact, most of them took great offense at the various imposters who tried to pass themselves off as the beloved princess. None were more offended than the palace staff, who saw every day how much their king and queen mourned. It eventually got to the point that someone would inform the king and queen of another person claiming to be the lost princess, but the guards and officials were always the ones to conduct the actual investigation. 

That year, the rumors started early. A young woman with a face eerily similar to the queen’s and impossibly long, golden hair was spotted in the town. The palace officials waited apprehensively for her to demand to be seen at the palace gates, but she never came. Eventually, a few guards were sent out to see what she was up to, but they never spotted her. Even so, the rumors in town grew, and the common people had much to say about the cheerful young woman who delighted in the library’s books, had a smile for every child she saw, and danced gracefully in the square. 

The palace officials debated for hours about what to tell the king and queen because no one wanted to get their hopes up again. An hour before sunset, a weary chamberlain was selected to give them what little news there was. They were only rumors, he emphasized. None of the palace staff had actually seen her, he insisted. The royals heard all of this in silence, until the king quietly thanked him and sent him away.

No one spotted her after sunset, but a few people heard a man’s voice shouting for Rapunzel in the middle of the night. But this too was not unusual. There were always a few drunkards who sang melancholy songs and called for the lost princess long after the other festivities were over.

No one bothered to tell the king and queen about Flynn Rider’s claims. He was a well known thief and a scoundrel. And no one bothered to question why he was tied up in the boat he was found in with the lost princess’ tiara in plain sight.

Later, the guards had to confess that Rider had escaped with the help of the guard’s most loyal steed, Maximus. No one knew what to make of it, and no one thought to connect his escape to his claims about the princess when they reported to the king and queen.

Rider’s story and Maximus’ apparent defection made a lot more sense when they rode up to the gates the next day with a young woman who looked eerily similar to the queen. A few officials were wary, both because of Flynn Rider’s reputation and because the young woman had short, brown hair. Everyone knew the princess had golden hair, which was a rare color in the kingdom. 

Rider and the woman were led to a small room, and then several guards stood watch as the questioning began. Why did she think she was the lost princess? Why was she associating with known rascal and thief, Flynn Rider? She insisted that Rider was her friend. That he had saved her from a woman she at first called mother, but then the whole sad story came tumbling out. The tower, the isolation, the paintings, her “mother’s” obsession with her once golden hair, how even after her hair was cut her tears had apparently healed Rider, and finally, the way the lights had called to her every year. 

Straws were drawn, and the unfortunate official who got the short one went to inform the king and queen. They still needed to check the story, he said. It could still be a trick, he insisted. There were tears in the king’s eyes as the official was sent away, but the queen had hope in hers.

Maximus finally took the initiative to drag a guard onto his back and ride out to the hidden tower. A few other guards decided to follow on their own. Everyone wanted to know if the story was true. An old cloak was found at the bottom of the tower, but no body. Inside though, inside the tower raised as many questions as answers. There were chains lying on the floor, and paintings on every single wall. But the focal point of the sad little living space was the hair. Impossibly long, brown hair was strewn all across the floor. It was the same shade as the queen’s. 

The paintings were amazing, and each and every single one had the shape of the kingdom crest. Some of the guards were still skeptical, but most now believed that the young woman truly was the lost princess, Rapunzel.

The guards returned the palace and joyfully reported everything they saw to the palace officials. Some of them hesitated, after so many years it all seemed to good to be true. But finally, finally, Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert (and wasn’t that revelation almost as incredulous as the return of the lost princess) were led to an upper story balcony on the king and queen’s floor. The officials were pulling out straws again, this time for the honor of telling the king and queen rather than out of reluctance. But one of the guards beat them too it.

When the guard burst into the sitting room, he found he had no words. All he could do was nod and point towards the balcony. The king and queen apparently had no words either, because they simply ran out of the room. 

At last, the king and queen stood in front of the balcony door. After so many false leads, so many pretenders, so many times their hopes were raised and dashed again, they barely dared to open the door. But finally, open it they did.

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been on my mind since the second time I watched Tangled and noticed a man reading a book staring at Rapunzel's hair at the beginning of the Kingdom Dance sequence. The lack of dialogue is intentional, because in the movie the king and queen do not speak and are not given names. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
